Hillbilly

Paris to Krakow to Auschwitz to Zywiec to Zar to Banska Bystrica to Krakow!

Friday, September 11th

3am Sleep

4:30am alarm starts going off

5:30am wake up

F!!! We were about to miss our flight to Poland. the only Easy Jet flight all weekend.

The Peugeot 308 didnt let us down, as we hit 185km/hr (about 120mph/hr) and made it from Compiegne to CDG (60km) in about 30mins. (Real Fast) That’s from waking up, getting out the door, dropping off the car and being in the terminal… anyone need a driver?

6:30am and we ran in and just made our flight! KRK here we come!

10am We got another free upgrade on our car and it was a 6speed Toyota Camry that we would call home for the next 5 days.

It was time for some trance tunes in the car to bring back the club from the night before.

Noon: We showed our respects and tourist side with a stop to Auschwitz II concentration camp. It was surreal to see the sheer size and capacity of people that were housed here. It is moments like this that both Nick and I agreed made mountainboarding the best thing in the world! We might be a 1/3rd the way around the world for a mountainboard event, but because of this trip we were both able to take in some surreal history.

Auschwitz II Concentration Camp

Nick Taking in some serious History. Auschwitz II Concentration Camp in Poland.

After some real cheap beer (good beer for cheap) and some lunch we were off to find Zywiec Brewery located in the town of Zywiec, Poland. We thought we had plenty of time, but between getting lost and construction we ended up showing up 15mins late for our tour. Luckily we met up with Mariusz and his beautiful lady friend and they were able to convince the tour guide to let us have a tour! I mean we did start the morning 60km outside of Paris… i would call that quite the commute for a brewery tour!

This brewery tour had a bowling ally in it… so we played a few frames and then it was time for the goods, 1/2liters of beer for samples!

Enjoying our sample beers after the tour of Zywiec Brewery with Mariusz and Weronika!

6pm Dinner time! Pierogies were on order. Pierogies smothered in bacon! dinner for 4 people and drinks came to only 56 zloty! (about $20, Score!)

Maybe one of the best meals of the trip! Pierogies covered in Bacon!

We showed up to the ski lodge bar after checking into our room and had another 1/2liter of beer. Played some charades with a few of the riders because English is not as common in Poland as in western Europe… but we made due!

Bed early finally, 11pm.

Saturday, September 12th

6:30am *Knock, Knock* “Get up!” What the hell? are you guys crazy?!?!

The polish riders were getting up and ready to start the day. It would be the only day of our trip in Poland that we felt was lived to the fullest because we didn’t sleep till noon or take a nap on the plane for half the day.

9am we were padded up and wondering why the hell we were the ONLY ones with no brakes AND MBS boards (you know the ones with little tiny wheels..as compared with No-Sno)

Then we saw the hill as we rode up the lift! Lots of rocks and very very steep. I started to think just sticking to the jump was a good idea, but i didn’t come all the way to Poland to chicken out.

Nick looking real stoked to ride in his Tall Tee, this is before he saw the downhill!

After time trials were over I some how had managed to make the top 10 for the mass downhill of the entire mountain. My only goal was to get down alive, not finishing last would be a plus, but just walking away at the end of the day would be enough for me.

one, two, START! and everyone was off, all pointing it straight down the hill.

I was trying to keep up, but even when I pointed it, i just could not keep up with my small 8″ tires on the loose rock.

I managed to stay up the entire time and even finished 9th!!! I must say i am pretty happy about that.

10 man mass downhill for the finals. Me way over on the left because i got last “lane” choice. Notice how padded up everyone is and how they all have brakes!

2pm Now it was time for some freesytle! The dirt lip was real nice but the length of the jump left something to be desired. Oh well… Jump to flat!

The Polish riders were trying flips, 720’s, and backside rodeos. Not very many were landed, but every time they got back up and had at the jump again. One guy even sheered a king pin on a No-Sno in half!

A few back flip trains running real hot and some rodeos and me and Nick were putting on an MBS Demo!

I took 1st place with a huge rodeo and Nick came in second with some smooth backflips. Nick won best trick with a backflip to flat! I managed to take out a camera guy and fall pretty good after doing a rodeo… then i realized i was riding with a flat tire!

5pm Some great prize giving took place… XS Hillbilly pads and some amazing wine!!!

We were real stoked on winning some really good wine!

She asked if she could take a picture with me. So i said yes, only if i could also have a picture with her. One of Polands Finest!

The Board I won for winning freestyle! Blue Angel!

8pm Let the after party begin!
8:30pm 5 Vodka shots later and the party was well underway!

The DJ from the event came and we started a good ole dance party in the ski lodge bar! There were many many bottles of vodka going around and many more shots to be had! I barely remember walking up the hill to the hotel past some goats and sheep and then I was out!

After Party!

Making more friends with some of Polands Finest! Me and Weronika who is one kick butt mountainboarder!

This is how not to make friends with Polands Finest! Pig pile on Weronika!

Sunday, September 13th

Noon – Ugh, still drunk from the vodka!

I couldn’t find Nick then he came knocking at the door. Turns out after some confusion the night before he decided our neighbors floor would be a good place to sleep. This would not be the last floor he would sleep on.

I think i ate an entire loaf of bread and jam for breakfast to try and sober up.

Finally we were the last ones to leave and I am sure the waitress/bartender at that place couldn’t have been happier!

Nick Creepin on the Goats outside the hotel!

2Pm and Nick was driving for the first time on the trip…. because i was in no condition to drive. We went flying into Slovakia passing some amazing grass covered mountains. But neither of us had a desire to stop and ride because of the state our boards and minds were in.

Headed into Slovakia! Count it!

5PM We arrived in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia without any wrong turns! This town is the second largest in Slovakia and its known as a large college town, yes please! There was a huge welcoming party in the main square for us!

We checked into our sweet hostel and parked the car in some sketchy far off neighborhood and just hoped it wouldn’t get towed.

We decided some food and a beer was on call, but then called it an early night.

While I decided to come by car to Slovakia (because its land locked), Nick thought it best to show up to our welcoming party by Boat! Its going fast and… Banska Bystrica, Slovakia.

Monday, September 14th

10am Up and at it kind of early and we had to decide what to do for the day and where we would stay Monday night. We thought of Budapest, thought of staying where we were, but finally decided two days in Krakow would be good. And oh was it!

But we wouldn’t leave Slovakia so easy, it was time for some day drinking! The sun was out and it was the perfect temperature to sit in the main square and just watch the beautiful eastern European college women stroll on by. It was soo nice to finally relax and just chill for a day.

Marc Jenkins has been working really hard! As a result, MBS has a Flagship store in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia!

Enjoying some amazing beers in the main square in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia.

Nick loving on the Ice Cream in Slovakia. Lazy Day!

7pm We arrived in Krakow but needed to find a Hostel. We stopped by Greg and Toms (where we had reservations the following night) but they were full for Monday night. They directed us to the AQQ which was one block off from the main square… Perfect!

*** This is where my journal entries stopped because the trip got non stop crazy. So everything from here on out is my attempt to remember what happened. ***

9pm Nick and I went on a little walk around the main square and grabbed some great Gyros! Then we decided some more Polish vodka was in order… it took a lot to get me to drink more vodka after saturday night. We just sat in the main square and enjoyed the views of the churches and drank our vodka. During this time however, we saw a guy on a bike with a sign that said “Club Maps” So Nick chased him down, got a free club map, and found out where the hot spot was on a monday night… Club Prozak! We also found out that you get arrested for drinking in public in Krakow… Oops!

Midnight Club Prozak was packed! You would have thought it was a saturday night, but i am not complaining. We did some more drinking and trance dancing and realized most of the girls were all Polish college students! Nick and I started dancing with two friends, but my lady just wasnt feeling my sweet moves so I moved on.

Tuesday, September 15th

3am As i try to figure out what i want to do, i see Nick come out of the club with the two ladies… Score! Well they wanted to take Nick on a walking tour of the city… at 3am! I wasn’t having this so i headed home to the hostel.

9:30am I was up and ready to go feed the meter on the car and move over to the other hostel with our stuff. But Nick was no where to be seen. I told him he had to be back by 9:30 so we could move everything and not get a parking ticket. After i ran across the city to pay for parking i realized i didn’t have the keys… Dumb A$$! So i had to run back and forth again to pay for the parking. When i finally got back to the AQQ Nick was just chilling eating some cereal. Turns out he got a full city tour, saw some Dragon that breathes fire if you text it, and drank more vodka in a park with some random guys. Then i think he said something about food on the kitchen counter, but I am not sure what he meant by that.

11am Another walk across town and we tried to check into the hostel we had reservations at. No luck, someone screwed up and over booked! However Tom did tell us we could come out on the bar crawl that night with them and have some free dinner! So carrying all our stuff back across town to the AQQ but this time there would be more people staying there, score!

We enjoyed a day of sight seeing and shopping with the ladies Nick had met the night before.

Nick working hard for his water! Krakow Main Square.

I found the best Beer in town… the kind that is free!

Getting a sight seeing tour from some lovely ladies that Nick met the night before at the club. Krakow Castle, Krakow, Poland!

Then we decided that some Champagne was in order… not just any champagne… a 3 liter bottle of champagne!!! It cost us about $20 and the guy chilled it for us while we got ready for dinner and then the bar crawl!

Mean mugging with the 3 Liter bottle of Champagne!

Pretty sure it cant get much better then this! 3 Liters of Champagne and partying in Poland.

7:30pm Dinner time at Greg and Toms, but we were late and almost all the polish sausage was gone. We did however let everyone know how Americans roll… 3 liters of champagne deep! But we decided to wait till we got back to the AQQ with our new friends and pop it there.

A quick chug of champagne and some cheese at the AQQ and it was time to try and catch up with the bar crawl. It was suppose to cost us about $25, but some how we got on for free because Tom is a good guy. We missed out on the 5 shots at the vodka bar, but caught everyone at Brower Brewery. After about 5 pints of a really good Hefiwiezen we were off to a club. Turns out we were going back to Prozak, but this time with a bunch of Aussies and Brits. Turns out the Aussies took a liking to us American boys and some dancing and more drinks at Prozak were in order!

Brit Lady on the right, Aussie ladies to the left. Lots of great beer!

Nick enjoying his time at Prozak with the Aussie!

Dancing and making friends with the lovely Aussie Ladies!

3am would roll around again and after a run in with the workers at the Hostel it was time for bed!

We would need to be up early again to hop some planes so we could get to Moscow.

When your town is lodged deep in the valleys of Colorado’s front range you can expect you see some crazy weather and Empire is no exception to this, but we ride mountainboards which can handle just about any terrain. The second annual Altitude Cup hosted by Altitude Sickness went off! Starting Saturday morning riders found themselves greeted by some gray skies, a fresh mountainboard park waiting to be torn up and a new event format.

The Altitude Cup took some more traditional event and put a spin on them, for instance the first event of the weekend was a slalom race through cones and over one roller. The times from the slalom race determined riders gate choice in the boardcross racing. Carving is a lot of fun on a mountainboard but you could see from the way some riders were turning and hitting cones that it had been while since they had taking some hard turns. In the end we saw some unlikely candidates with the top times and the heavy favorites like Jason Lee with some slower times. Brandon Johanns, Tyler Mork and Benton Jackson all had incredibly fast times and locked in some lane choices.

All Saturday the gray skies threatened and eventually they opened up, unleashing some rain, sleet and even some snow. The rest of the days events were shut down….. so we all found ourselves at the Original Hard Rock Cafe for one of the best $5 meals i’ve ever had.

The rain continued through the night putting a damper on the camping but by 10am when riders began to get back to the Dirt Empire they were surprised to find a dry and fast boardercross course ready to be raced. The format went as followed, 2 man heats, double elimination, four man finals. Here a some photos of a few heats.

In the end Jason Lee found himself back on top, with Cole Shipp taking second and Benton Jackson respectfully holding down the third place podium spot. The finale for the weekend was the slopestyle event. With so many options and lines in the new park it was nearly impossible to fairly judge the riders on one line, besides who really wants to ride a straight jump line when you have hips, quarter pipes and jibs every where else? So it was decided that the pros would have 2 runs on the jib line which had a number options, including some rails, boxs, a rhythm jump section into a quarter pipe and skate style pyramid, 2 runs on the straight jumps line and one last big air hit on the left hand hip. The best thing about this course is that none of the jumps were intimidating and it allowed riders to push themselves and through together some technical runs.

It's always nice to see new blood in mountainboarding, especially when it's a lady, Amanda Poindexter

Did you ever hear about that backflips for boobs foundation well.... nevermind. Matt Silva

Ty Mork letting the blonde locks fly!

Grabbing lots of tail.

Brandon Johann writes a blog, he also tweaks a mountainboard.

QP Japan over the channel. Ecar

World record holder for backfliping 150 gators, Jason Lee

J Lee of MBS, Yours truely & Van Dewitt head master of the Dirt Star Army for higher education

Matty Silva is a mad man, cork 7 on the hip. Yikes!

Hej .... translation hi

At the end Matt Silva stayed strong and snagged up 3rd place with, some double grab backflips and some cork spins. As one of the minds behind this course design Devin Garland showed how it should be ridden putting down smooth cab 5’s and some other switch combos. No stranger to the 1st place spot was Dave Starfighter, showing that experience rules all, linking switch tricks seemlessly into to every run. Thanks again to Altitude Sickness, the town of Empire and all the sponsor MBS, Hillbilly Dirt Gear, AP Production and that fly ass tv show host (call me).

Just what we’ve all been waiting for…a sick new mountainboard park. Imagine a park with different options to chose from and long enough to get multiple hits on each run. Then picture a lift ride back up to the top to do it all over again. Well the dream is now becoming a reality. Photos have been leaking out of the construction of the Beech Mountain park in Western North Carolina.

With a peak elevation of 5,506 feet Beech is a dream come true for any mountainboarder. The park was designed by 2007 US slopestyle champion Baron Frierson. The resort is holding ride sessions in conjunction with mountainbike events on June 27-28 and August 8-9. We emphasize at The Dirt that the park is mountainboard specific and mountainbikers have a separate track. There will be an end of the season contest on September 5-6. Props to Baron and Ground Industries for funding the park, Beech Mountain for supporting mountainboarding, and everyone else that is helping make this the best mountainboard park in the Southeast. Peeps the photos kids.